Gurkha veterans yesterday lost a high court battle over a government pensions deal which they say has left them struggling to survive. Three retired soldiers, Kumar Shrestha, Kamal Purja and Sambahadur Gurung, all in their late 30s and retired through ill health, failed in a legal challenge which affects thousands of others.

The government last year made concessions over pensions for serving and recently retired Gurkhas but not to those who enlisted before July 1997.

The Gurkhas claimed the new pension arrangements discriminated against them on the grounds of age. However, Mr Justice Ouseley said the Ministry of Defence had acted reasonably.

Philippa Tuckman, the veterans' lawyer, said her clients intended to appeal. She said the MoD put a far lower value on years served before 1997, when the Gurkhas were based in Hong Kong. They moved to the UK when the colony was handed back to China. She added: "This money is meant to be lived on, and in this country. Where a man's headquarters were based years ago is no more than an administrative detail."